Page 102 - Western Amateur 120th Championship Program 2022, Exmoor Country Club

A Brief History of Exmoor

Exmoor Country Club, 1909

Incorporated as Illinois’ third golf club Harvard students Vernon Cassard and
in 1896, Exmoor opened its clubhouse Everett Millard conceived the idea for
and original nine-hole golf course on Exmoor and engaged the interest of
June 26, 1897. The club’s 40 charter William A. Alexander, a prominent
members set in motion the varied insurance executive. Defying skeptics of
activities, spirit of sportsmanship, and the new game of golf, Alexander and his
family-oriented traditions that endure friend, Charles W. Fullerton, moved
to this day. boldly. They bought the 93-acre Francis
Stupey farm, gained approvals from city
officials, and cleared 2,000 tree stumps. First Games of Golf
Then, within a six-month period, they
is located in the west of England,
built a nine-hole golf course and a two-
straddling the counties of Somerset and
story classically styled clubhouse to
Dorset. Exmoor is now a national park
serve as the centerpiece of club life.
of great natural beauty. The name
Exmoor is derived from the River Exe
LEADER IN THE that flows through this spectacular
GROWTH OF GOLF landscape.
From its first days, Exmoor promoted
Exmoor’s early members, both men and
golf by hosting inter-club and regional
women, took up golf with zeal. The
tournaments. C.B. Macdonald, the first
club’s first golf professional, Scotsman
U.S. Amateur champion in 1895 and
James Tweedie, was hired; a club maker
architect of the club’s first course,
crafted mashies and niblicks; a caddie
won the first President’s Cup at
program was started; and inter-club
Exmoor in 1898.
competitions were reported each
Exmoor’s name was inspired by the Monday in the daily newspapers.
setting of a romantic nineteenth-
Some local clergymen, however,
century British novel Lorna Doone: A
objected to their congregants playing
Romance of Exmoor. The Exmoor region
W. A. Alexander, founder of golf on Sundays, but Exmoor founders
Exmoor Country Club

100 A Pioneering Club in American Golf Exmoor Country Club